Sumitomo Rubber Industries Selects Avery Dennison Maxdura Tire Tag

Avery Dennison announced that Sumitomo Rubber Industries Motorsport Department, a leading manufacturer of tires, has selected the AD Maxdura® Tire Tag to be used for endurance racing teams using its Falken tires.

Teams will benefit from a range of unprecedented new data to help them prepare and improve race performance. With a unique RFID transponder implanted in each tire, information can be read automatically and used to identify precisely which tires are in use from the pit to the track.

To further boost control, as well as stock and performance management, the Avery Dennison Maxdura Tire Tag enables teams to optimize real time inventory and logistics. Providing a unique ID for each tire will improve reuse and recycling processes after the race to make events more environmentally sustainable.

Produced at Avery Dennison’s dedicated facility in Germany, the Maxdura Tire Tag is one of the most advanced embedded UHF RFID tags on the market. Its selection came after a series of rigorous technical tests carried out by Sumitomo Rubber Industries Motorsport Department under tough racing conditions.

“The unique demands of endurance racing are the perfect showcase of tire durability and the need for RFID tagging across the automotive sector,” Nicolas Aubourg, head of performance and chassis R&D, Federation Internationale De L’Automobile (FIA), said. “It comes at a time where the FIA, the world governing body for motosport, is urging teams to use tires embedded with RFID transponders for environmental and cost reasons.”

The global tire market is expected to reach 2.7 billion by 2026. Such volume offers significant scope for improvement and optimization. RFID helps to eliminate tire fit errors, make them easier to recycle and have benefits throughout the supply chain for manufacturers, wholesalers and garages.

“RFID technology is the perfect fit for the fast moving automotive sector,” Lauri Hyytinen, market development manager for automotive, Avery Dennison Smartrac, noted. “It ensures quick and reliable identification of each tire used in a competition, a key requirement in a world where the need for speed, accuracy and reliable tracking continually gathers pace.”

“Implementing Avery Dennison’s leading RFID technology is essential to ensuring the evolution of the tire industry,” Yoshikazu Ishikawa, GM, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, added. “Having a reliable, tested and qualified solution from a trusted and highly experienced partner allows us to shift gears and drive forward our innovation ambitions.”